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Can a face painting or balloon twisting company be “ethical”?

On 18 Aug, 2014

I don’t normally do this, but I wanted to take a second to write to our clients personally not as “Kaleidoscope” but as myself. My name is Marissa–I’m the owner of Kaleldiscope, an eleven-year vegetarian, and the pack leader of two rescue dogs. My first job, at the age of 15, was doing warehouse work in pretty rough conditions; my first graphic design job was at a women’s center, helping get women access to important resources through informational posters and hand-outs.

Having worked in what feels like very position of a company, one of the first questions I had to ask myself was “can my company be ethical”? With face painting and balloon twisting that may not seem like a big deal–but when you take into account how important the safety of the children we work with are, as well as the sources we get our products from, my answer is YES.

My amazing team of artists and I not only pride ourselves on the quality of our art work, but on the quality of our customer service and products. Whether our clients are nonprofits looking for entertainment that fit into their mission down to the last detail, or just a picky mom wanting the best for her family, we are excited to offer you what we believe is the best entertainment in the area.

Cruelty-free face painting for animals and workers

Kids love animals. Kids always want to be painted as animals! So why would we use paints that have been tested on animals, or contain animal products? Our face paints are not tested on animals (poor bunnies!), and even our paint brushes contain no animal hair. They’re also made in the US and are sweat-shop free. We are super-duper proud of this!

The highest sanitation and safety

We’ll never get tired of saying it: all of our face paints are FDA- and EU-approved cosmetics. Our clients expect a lot from us, and we expect a lot of our cosmetics! You can read more about our high sanitation standards, professional artists, background checks, and more on another blog post.

Single-sourced, biodegradable balloon twisting

All of our balloons come from latex trees in Barranquilla, Columbia, South America. The parent company that harvests the latex, Sempertex, falls into all European Union safety guidelines, which are higher and more-thoroughly checked than the FDA.

Our balloon animals can last for up to two weeks in your home, but won’t last forever in a landfill! Because they are made from 100% natural latex, they are biodegradable. Little research has been done on exactly how long a used balloon will last for, but our supplier and their competition have all said, depending on the conditions, the balloons will decompose in somewhere between a year to five years in a landfill or outdoors. Read more about balloons & the environment here!

As a reminder, children with a latex allergy will be allergic to our balloons. We’ve never had an accidentally reaction while working because we take care in containing any balloon scraps or popped balloons, but we want to make sure everyone stays safe!

Fair labor practices mean amazing artists

All of our artists and office workers are paid living wages–always well above minimum wage, and usually one of the highest wages they’ve ever been paid! Our amazing artists are all moms, students, or juggling multiple jobs, and most have student loans. Paying fair wages not only is better for them, but for our clients! They’re also given incentivized raises and bonuses as they improve their work, so our team is constantly getting better.

They love their jobs and it shows in their work! You won’t find a team of artists more dedicated anywhere.

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Community Support

Kaleidoscope Art & Entertainment is supported by the City of Hartford Business Development Grants for Artists Program Pedro E. Segarra, Mayor with funding from the Community Development Grant (CDBG) program allocated to the City of Hartford, CT.

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Serving Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts: from Boston and Springfield to New Haven and New Fairfield! Our face painters and balloon twisters will travel to your party, where ever it is!